Top Philly elections official says voter ID bill is 'hogwash'

Inquirer City Hall Staff

Don't look for incoming City Commissioner Stephanie Singer to back away from controversy.

On Thursday, she called the voter ID bill being considered in Harrisburg "hogwash from top to bottom." Actually, she first called it that on Tuesday when she called in to WHYY's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. The show's guest was Carol Aichele, the Republican Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who backs the bill.

Singer, who as City Commissioner will oversee Philadelphia's elections, said poll workers already verify voters' signatures. Requiring ID, she added, would only cause many people not to vote.

Aichele countered that many poll workers are not trained to analyze handwriting.

Singer is a Democrat. We wondered what Al Schmidt, her Republican counterpart on the incoming City Commission would think, but we have not heard back from him yet.

Heard in the Hall is simply happy to hear any politician use the word hogwash. It's down right folksy for someone with a Yale degree.